Defeating Your Toughest Competitor: "No Decision"
Your new sales hire came with a pristine resume and gold-plated industry relationships. Now your calendar has plenty of initial meetings, but your new revenue is flat.
It's frustrating for you and your sales rep. You might be questioning the rep's drive, knowledge of your company's unique value, or even their deal-closing ability.
We have seen this play out before, and often the main culprit is what we call "no decision". It's when the prospect does nothing.
Rather than blaming your sales rep, what if the prospects are your problem?
One of our sayings is: success in sales is directly related to the quality of your prospects.
Is your sales team spending too much time talking to people who can't sign a check? Maybe they're having lunch with a polite manager who loves your solution but is too scared to show the proposal to their boss. Or they could be chasing a lead who agrees your service is great, but has zero urgency to buy right now because nothing is forcing them to change.
Pushing your solution onto someone who is just window shopping or refuses to fight for the budget means your team is simply wasting time chasing ghosts.
How can your sales team determine if they are interacting with high-quality prospects?
They need an easy-to-use checklist that they can consistently apply to reveal which prospects are indicating the strongest buying signals. Lucky for you, here's one that we've already proven in numerous companies.
GET TO THE POINT
Look for these four indicators of a quality prospect:
Need: They have an active, painful problem disrupting their organization today; not just an interest in gathering free ideas from you. Timing: There's a tangible, immediate operational reason they must act now, rather than a back-burner project that drifts indefinitely. Sponsor: Ideally your prospect is the person who can actually sign the check. Otherwise, it must be someone with access to and influence with the ultimate decision maker. Anyone who can't increases your risk of "no decision" outcomes. Budget: Discovering dedicated funds are already set aside to fix this specific problem is a rare and wonderful gift. Most often, your team must evaluate whether the prospect is personally willing to fight their internal status quo to secure budget. |
Are your sales reps evaluating these four key signs of a high-quality prospect right from the start, or are they finding out months down the road when the lead becomes a ghost?
In your corner,
Toby Stansell
Managing Partner
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